Supreme Court Notice Acting DGP Punjab: Days after the Supreme Court of India issued notice against Punjab and 7 other states for appointing an 'acting' DGP and not a regular DGP, Punjab Government fired its first response. The Supreme Court of India on September 30 issued a notice on a petition that multiple states including Punjab have appointed an acting DGP despite the availability of regular DGP candidates violates the top court's guidelines in the 2006 -Prakash Singh case. The list of states that came under legal trouble are- Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha, West Bengal, Punjab, and Jharkhand. All these states, except Odisha, currently have temporary Police Chiefs designated as acting Director General of Police (DGP).
What did the Punjab Government say on SC's notice on the appointment of DGP?
A news portal quoted a government source who informed that the Punjab Government is yet to receive a copy of the formal notice and the copy of petition. Hence, after they receive a copy of the order, they will seek legal opinion. "We are yet to go through the petition. We will see when we get the notice and a copy of the petition. After that we will take legal opinion on the issue,” an official of the Punjab Government was quoted saying.
Currently, IPS Gaurav Yadav is the acting DGP of Punjab. IPS Yadav was appointed as acting DGP of Punjab on July 5, 2022. As per the guidelines, reports suggest that the state government can post an officiating DGP for a maximum period of six months. However, IPS Gaurav Yadav has completed two years and three months in the office.
When IPS Gaurav Yadav took charge as Punjab's top cop he was not among the top three senior-most IPS officers. Reports suggest that the appointment of IPS Gaurav Yadav superseded at least 6 officers then. In July 2022, 1987-batch IPS officer and former state police chief Dinkar Gupta was director general of the National Investigation Agency (NIA). He retired on March 31 this year. Former DGP VK Bhawra (1988-batch), who proceeded on leave then, retired in May this year. 1988-batch officer Prabodh Kumar is Special DGP, Punjab Human Rights Commission, and another of his batch and former officiating state police head Iqbal Preet Singh Sahota, was special DGP, Armed Police Jalandhar, at that time and retired in August 2022.
Below is a list of IPS officers whose names might be sent if the Punjab Government decides to send a panel for regular DGP appointment-
1988-batch IPS Officer Prabodh Kumar
1989-batch IPS Officer Sanjeev Kalra
1989-batch IPS Officer Parag Jain
1992-batch IPS Officer Dr. Sharad Satya Chauhan
1992-batch IPS Officer Harpreet Singh Sidhu
1992-batch IPS Officer Gaurav Yadav
1992-batch IPS Officer Kuldeep Singh
1992-batch IPS Officer Ms. Gurpreet Kaur Deo
1993-batch IPS Officer Varinder Kumar
1993-batch IPS Officer Ishwar Singh
1993-batch IPS Officer Dr. Jitendra Kumar Jain
1993-batch IPS Officer Satish Kumar Asthana
1993-batch IPS Officer Ms. Shashi Prabha Dwivedi
1993-batch IPS Officer Rajendra Namdeo Dhoke
1993-batch IPS Officer Arpit Shukla